This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. SUBPROJECT DESCRIPTION SPECIFIC AIMS: + To provide space and support for researchers interested in conducting clinical oral health research at MUSC; + To engage more College of Dental Medicine (CDM) faculty members in clinical and translational research; + To stimulate new research discoveries through community-based research, therefore, facilitating the translation and adoption of new research findings into the community settings. OBJECTIVES + To provide an outpatient dental clinic research capacity to support all university projects; + To collect demographic and other data as required by the different clinical research protocols; + To provide calibrated dental examination and dental care delivery as required by the different clinical research protocols; + To collect and enter oral health assessment data as requested by specific clinical research protocols; + To collect, process and distribute biological samples for laboratory analysis; + Assist oral health investigators with clinical / IRB protocol development, participant recruitment, data collection, data analysis, manuscript / grant preparations; + To ensure coordination between program partners through monthly meetings; + To engage academic-community partnerships, transforming oral health care and eliminating oral health disparities in our communities; + To improve the oral health outcomes of the population of South Carolina through discoveries translated into community service; + To establish mechanisms to sustain the progress of community-based initiatives. BACKGROUND [unreadable]CORE RELEVANCE The Core C goal is to foster clinical and translational oral health research in a cost effective manner, therefore helping to strength the discipline of clinical and translational science. To accomplish this, Core C provides the necessary clinical expertise to implement different research protocols;facilitates grant application process for clinical investigators;and mentors clinical investigators in clinical study design and protocol development. Core C has established a second location, on the 5th floor of the James B. Edward CDM, as well as maintained the one within the MUSC Clinical and translational Research Center (CTRC), allowing the core to support interdisciplinary research projects. The CDM has formal agreements signed with two local community outreach dental clinics, the Our Lady of Mercy Outreach Community Dental Clinical, in Johns Island and the East of the Cooper Community Outreach Dental Clinical, in Mount Pleasant, that can be used as off-site facilities, facilitating patient/participant recruitment and community engagement. The Clinical Core collaborates with the existing MUSC "Sea Island Families Project Council", improving credibility and access of oral health research projects among African-Americans living along the Southeastern U.S. sea costal regions. The African American Gullah population are a direct descendant population of rice plantation enslaved Africans from West Africa. Gullah refers to several things: language, people, and a culture. This outreach activity and the partnership with the Sea Island Families Project Council has been a beneficial experience for both parts involved. We have learned directly from the community about their needs as well as the barriers that exist between a medical center and the community. The African Americans in South Carolina comprise ~33% of our state's population compared to ~12% nationally. Diseases that are disproportionately prevalent among them are cancers (including oral and pharyngeal), diabetes, periodontal disease, hypertension, stroke, substance abuse, depression, obesity, adverse pregnancy outcomes and the related complications of these disorders. Data reported in Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General, 2000 describe a silent epidemic of oral disease disproportionately affecting the nation's poor and minority populations. It is noteworthy that multiple studies find an association between oral and systemic diseases. The Core supports projects aiming to characterize this unique and historically isolated population from an oral health perspective, by assessing the prevalence of caries, periodontal disease, soft tissue lesions and oral cancer. Core C also supports projects assessing the overall dental needs and the barriers to oral health care specific to this population, guiding the design of culture sensitive community-based clinical projects. To fulfill its purpose of supporting interdisciplinary, community-based oral health research, Core C has developed substantial partnerships with existing MUSC and community resources, such as: Project SUGAR Community Partnership Program;MUSCLE (MUSC Lupus Erythematosus) Research Group;College of Medicine (COM) Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Medical Genetics;COM Division of Rheumatology and Immunology;Hollywood, SC mayor's office;Our Lady of Mercy Community Outreach Clinic;MUSC Center for Community Health Partnerships (CCHP);CCHP Community-Engaged Scholars Program;MUSC Hollings Cancer Center;MUSC College of Nursing;and the NCRR's CTSA funded South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute (SCTR).